Asparagus

[HickoryNut]

Grandma used to grow the tastiest asparagus I've ever eaten. I vaguely remember her sprinkling salt on her asparagus and her tomatoes? Now you got me all curious...

 

[BTDT]

Regular epsom salt can be used in flower beds, gardens, etc. Pretty amazing stuff. Puts magnesium in ground, or makes ground where plants can absorb magnesium easier, I forget which. Can be used as a laxative, foot soak, mixed with bath water to ease muscle aches, etc. All kinds of stuff, read the label.

 

[jimmy1]

schmism, To try to bring back the patches I would scrape all the previous years growth off the patches in the spring and then till over then about 2" deep or so. I do this to mine every spring to loosen up the soil so the shoots can easily push through from the crowns. The older the patch the deeper the crowns could be and you will not damage them. Then as previously mentioned perhaps a layer of mulch to control the grass and weed growth if it is bad, the asparagus will push through no problem. Every year I also add new crowns to some sparser areas to keep it renewed. I do not know about the salt other than epsom salts as BTDT pointed out. I use epsom salts on my tomato plants.

Egon's recipe has me longing for spring and fresh spears of the stuff right from the patch. A great vegie.

Jim

 

[schmism]

so the stuff doesnt spread on its own? it only spreds via seed? and it doesnt self seed well?

 

[jinman]

Have a deli cut you very thin slices of the ham of your choice. Lightly spread cream cheese on the ham. Using either lightly steamed aspargus, or the German white asparagus(in a jar), place a stalk of the asparagus on the ham slice. Now, roll it up, using a toothpick to hold it together. A stack of those make mighty good appetizers I have tried using proscuitto(sp?) instead of ham too.

I have the same recipe, but I also roll out white bread with the crust removed to make a thin dough. Then I roll that on the outside of the asparagus, cream cheese, and ham. Poke them with a toothpick and bake them until the bread just starts to brown. YUM!

It probably ain't on anybody's heart-healthy menu, but it sure is good.

 

[jimmy1]

OK I could stand to be corrected but I don't think it will spread or seed it self down. At least my patches don't and I have not read anything different. They are very old and I am told that if you get production from crowns for 20 - 25 years is about max and that is about the age of my oldest crowns. Some are twice the diameter of my thumb and in my clay soil the first shoots of the year will come through with a hook on the end, but when freshly picked they are the best. One of the local nurserues often has crowns in the spring and I just buy a package or two and plant them at various depths from 6 - 12".

I like the recipes that are being shared. Here is another simple one for a side dish that I think is good. Blanch the asparagus and simply drizzle with raspberry viagrette then top with crumbled bacon bits.


Jim

 

[Bird]

Jim & Robert, those are recipes I never even heard of, but they do sound good.

 

[Chuck52]

Salt is an old fashioned way to keep the weeds down in an asparagus patch because asparagus is salt tolerant. I keep my patches more-or-less weeded by hand and then when I can get it I spread something like sawdust from a friend who uses it in his horse stalls as a heavy mulch. There's a really good site at one of the Ohio universities horticulture departments....very simple instructions for planting and such.

My favorite way to cook it is to saute some garlic in olive oil and then add the fresh asparagus to saute/steam in it's own liquid. Takes only minutes.

Chuck

 

[dirtydan]

When I was a kid we had an asparagus bed. Folks put rock salt on it almost every year. I also remember putting old manure on the patch several inches thick but not every year. No weeds with the salt. It also killed the grass and weeds probably 20 feet on the down hill side of the bed from the run off.
We lived next door to a cemetery. You could also pick it wild along the fence row. They would dump old flowers over the fence and asparagus is used quite often in cut fower arrangements so it would go to seed. We always had lots of it growing up.

Dan

 

[schmism]

we had the first Asparagus harvest.

1 lb 5 oz

ill have a pic of the bounty in the morning.

 

[hudlow]

I just put in an asparagus bed at our new house. We left one behind that we had planted about 15 years ago that was really producing good.

We like asparagus grilled with a little olive oil and seasonings.

Just throw it on for a few minutes beside your favorite steak.

My favorite meal is grilled asparagus, a baked sweet potato and a nice rib-eye......maybe a little red wine

In fact that's what I'm cooking tomorrow night.

hud

 

[jimmy1]

I just got my beds cleaned up this past weekend. tilled and some salt put on them, I think we will be about 2 weeks yet before they will appear.

Hud: I grill it also, love it.Can't beat it with a good steak, and definetly a good red wine. Do you put it on the grill raw? I have been giving mine a quick blanching before I season and grill it with olive oil.

Jim

 

[schmism]

based on what else is sprouting i expect to harvest simular bunchs every few days for the next comming weeks?.

 

[hudlow]

I just got my beds cleaned up this past weekend. tilled and some salt put on them, I think we will be about 2 weeks yet before they will appear.

Hud: I grill it also, love it.Can't beat it with a good steak, and definetly a good red wine. Do you put it on the grill raw? I have been giving mine a quick blanching before I season and grill it with olive oil.

Jim

No blanching, just straight from the garden to the grill. A little olive oil, salt, pepper and maybe a little parmesan after it comes off the grill.

I guess I'm looking at a couple of years before I can harvest mine since the beds are new.

hud

 

[hudlow]

based on what else is sprouting i expect to harvest simular bunchs every few days for the next comming weeks?.

Looks like you're going to need some friends who like asparagus.

That's a good looking harvest. Those "fat boys" are just beggin' to be grilled.

hud

 

[schmism]

well the whole asparagus thing is new to me....

i found it odd that some spots all the sprouts, shoots (what do you call them?) were normal pinky size. I have one area that seems to sprout thumb size ones with the largest .75"+ in diam.

then other places they are pencil thin.

can you pluck the same stem more than once? There are only about 8 or so that were tall enough to get timmed before we had the hard freeze a couple of weeks ago so i went ahead and cut them, now those stalks are pokeing back up with cut off heads...

now what?

 

[hudlow]

well the whole asparagus thing is new to me....

i found it odd that some spots all the sprouts, shoots (what do you call them?) were normal pinky size. I have one area that seems to sprout thumb size ones with the largest .75"+ in diam.

then other places they are pencil thin.

can you pluck the same stem more than once? There are only about 8 or so that were tall enough to get timmed before we had the hard freeze a couple of weeks ago so i went ahead and cut them, now those stalks are pokeing back up with cut off heads...

now what?

I've never used the same stem twice. I always break them off as close to the ground as possible - or even underneath. Then sometimes if they are too long they'll be a little tough but they usually snap right where the tender begins.

Stop harvesting about the end of May, at least in my area, to let the plants grow and be ready for next season.

hud

 

[jimmy1]

well the whole asparagus thing is new to me....

i found it odd that some spots all the sprouts, shoots (what do you call them?) were normal pinky size. I have one area that seems to sprout thumb size ones with the largest .75"+ in diam.

then other places they are pencil thin.

can you pluck the same stem more than once? There are only about 8 or so that were tall enough to get timmed before we had the hard freeze a couple of weeks ago so i went ahead and cut them, now those stalks are pokeing back up with cut off heads...

now what?

They are called spears. My guide is to not cut anything smaller than pencil size, I let them establish themselves. You should be able to keep cutting. I will cut the spears just below the ground and they will continue to sent new ones up. I usually stop cutting around the beginning of June, depending on the weather and how well the patch is doing ( in my area). I then leave the stalks alone until the next spring then clean up the bed for another crop.

Jim

 

[Chuck52]

I've had a few spears get past me sometimes, due to rain or whatever, and go to ferns. Should I pluck them anyway (and discard) so the spear production continues? I mean, is asparagus like some vegetables, that if you don't harvest them, quit producing? Also got a problem with asparagus beetles. I hate to hit them with insecticide because I'm picking every day. I've tried insecticidal soap, which is really just soap with no poisonous additives, and it seems to help some, but doesn't really get rid of the beetles. I've read about a rotenone/pyrethrin combo that can be used up to one day before harvest and I may try that in combination with the soap. Maybe pick all the spears that are close to ready and then hit the bed with that mixture and wait a day or two before picking again. Rotenone and pyrethrin are "natural products" and supposed to be relatively safe. On the other hand, I've worked with some really nasty "natural products".

Chuck

 

[jimmy1]

Chuck: If the spears get ahead of you I assume they are smaller ones, and even the large ones I just let them go into ferns. I am under the understanding that the crowns establish into stronger plants that way. Those beetles cause me a problem as well and I use rotenone, works well and usually a couple of treatments brings them under control.

Jim